Mykhailo Mudryk really struggled in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with West Ham on Saturday.
It was a similar story in our previous game, where he was taken off at half time.
So it’s a disappointing start to life at Stamford Bridge for a player who shone off the bench on his debut.
There were a few differences in that match against Liverpool. For one, Mudryk was coming off the bench and facing a tired midfield which is pretty leggy to begin with.
The other difference that Chelsea fans have noted from that game was that Lewis Hall was the left back playing behind Mudryk. The dynamic youngster linked up well with him.
That’s a stark contrast to the two games the Ukrainian has started for us. In both of those he’s had Marc Cucurella as the left back behind him, and we all know the struggles the Spaniard is having at the moment.
Has Mudryk really received adequate service to pass judgement at this point? Not for me. I think we’ve largely failed to deliver him the ball quickly enough to allow him to take his defender 1v1. We’ve got one of the fastest players in all of Europe and yet we’ve created precious situations in which he can either run in behind or take on his man 1 v 1 in space. Time and again I see us swinging the ball around the back a bit sluggishly, allowing the defense to shift and then Mudryk finds himself having to check to in order to get on the ball. The result is that we are blunting his effectiveness because, even if he’s able to turn, he’s now facing a defender whose got help close at hand. With Mudryk’s pace it would nice to see us looking for more big diagonals from Reece James or Thiago Silva that will help get him running at defenders who aren’t yet set.
Can’t argue with you there mate….Give the biy time…he’s a young guy, coming from a far inferior league with a massive price tag and huge expectations….Personally I’d ha e been more surprised if he’d been a roaring success straight from the off….judge him at the end of the season when he actually knows and has a relationship with the people he’s playing with….far to early for a judgement call.
Mudryk is a superb player and a very fast guy. Cucurella is a failure refusing to link up with him on time and showing lack of confidence and professional skill to operate behind Mudryk. Pls Potter should consider a better replacement for this guy and forget the fact that they both came from Brighton. This is chelsea now! Your slow decision taking is killing us daily
Mudryk is a superb player and a very fast guy. Cucurella is a failure refusing to link up with him on time and showing lack of confidence and professional skill to operate behind Mudryk. Pls Potter should consider a better replacement for this guy and forget the fact that they both came from Brighton. This is chelsea now! Your slow decision taking is killing us daily. ….